GIRLS
Harrison 59, Archer 52
Bailey Vick scored 13 points, including a big 3-pointer in the final minutes, to lift No. 8 Harrison to a 59-52 win over No. 7 Archer and earn another opportunity to play for the state championship.
Harrison advances to the title game to play Norcross on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the Macon Coliseum. The Hoyas have twice been runner-up, but have never won a title.
The difference came down to the fourth quarter. The game was tied 38-38 going into the fourth quarter and Harrison coach Terry Kemp challenged his girls in the huddle before the final period began.
“We went man-to-man and I challenged them,” Harrison coach Terry Kemp said. “I said, ‘Look, you’ve got eight minutes. You can be epic or you could regret these next eight minutes for the rest of your life. And that’s the facts. They went out and just played their tails off in the fourth quarter.”
Harrison (27-3) also got 12 points from Region 3 Player of the Year Anna Gernatt before she fouled out. Alisha Foster and Emily Acampora both scored nine
Archer (22-7) was led by Courtney Nesbitt with 23 and Tanya McGowan with 17.
Harrison had a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Archer took a 28-26 lead into halftime when Tanya McGowan made a pair of free throws with 13.2 seconds remaining.
The third quarter had the same intensity and wound up with the teams tied at 38-38 going in the fourth period.
Harrison scored the first three baskets of the fourth quarter as Archer turned it over four times on the first five possessions. The Hoyas opened a 53-43 lead on a 3-pointer by Alex McElroy, but Archer drew to within four points on a basket by Nesbitt.
Harrison’s Holley Turner made three of four free throws in the final 30 seconds to put the game away.
“The girls do a good job of getting each other wide open looks because they play for each other,” Kemp said. “They want each other to succeed. It’s a different girl every night and when Anna fouled out, we knew someone else was going to step up and tonight it was Bailey.”
BOYS
Norcross 75, Newton 72
When the going got tough in the fourth quarter of the semifinal game, the Norcross boys tapped into their reservoir of experience and found a way to beat Newton 75-72 and earn their first trip to the title game since 2018.
Norcross will meet Berkmar for the championship in an all-Gwinnett final on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Macon Coliseum.
The game was tied 58-58 with 4:12 remaining, but Norcross took over and led by nine. Newton took advantage of some shaky free throw shooting by the Blue Devils and got a pair of late 3-point baskets to make it 73-72. Then London Johnson made two free throws with 1.2 seconds to put it away.
“Execution on our end,” Norcross coach Jesse McMillan said. “We have done pretty well so far in the state playoffs, being able to execute late and run some action and get some good looks.”
Norcross (26-6) was led by Jerry Deng with 22 points, Johnson with 10, Samarion Bond with 16 and Mier Panoam with 10.
Newton (24-6) was led by M.J. Whitlock with 22, Stephon Castle with 15, Jakal Newton with 12 and Marquavious Brown with 11.
“It was execution on offense and them really just kind of locking in,” McMillan said. “Newton is elite on the offensive glass. When we played them in November we gave up 16 offensive rebounds and they beat us by about 15, so we knew coming in we had to cut that in half. I don’t know how many they ended up having but they didn’t pull a lot late in the fourth quarter and that was the difference.”
Norcross and Berkmar have played three times, with Berkmar winning each in close contests.
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